New York Times Is Wrong About Jumbo's

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times.This week, Luke says good riddance to a restaurant that didn't serve blacks.

I always hated Jumbo's because it was the first place I experienced segregation. I remember my mom would take my brothers and me to Jumbo's in the late '60s. She'd drive the family's yellow Galaxy 500 to the back of the restaurant to pick up our shrimp order.

One day I asked my mom why we couldn't go inside. She explained that only white people were allowed to sit in Jumbo's. From then on, the place was a constant reminder of the inequality blacks face in Miami.

Jumbo's finally began allowing blacks in the dining area when Bobby Flam took over the spot from his father in 1967. Flam told the Times that 30 of his white employees quit when he told them he would welcome African-Americans.

Black community leaders hail Flam for being one of the first white business owners to integrate. But it's not like he had a choice. By then, Liberty City was becoming predominantly black. Jumbo's became the place for Miami's black powerbrokers and community activists to meet. When people rioted in 1980 after four white cops were acquitted in the beating death of a black man, Jumbo's was one of the only businesses left undamaged.

Flam said he's closing because a developer bought the building for $490,000 and has promised to turn it into a retail center and low-income housing. But it's probably just another attempt to gentrify a black neighborhood. For me, Jumbo's closing is like watching the Confederate flag being burned. While some black people are sad about it, I couldn't be happier.